Outcomes of the “steady-state crisis” experiment in the MIR reactor channel

Abstract

To license nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants, data on the behavior of fuel elements (FE) under design-basis accidents are required. These data are obtained during tests of fuel assemblies (FA) and single fuel elements in research reactor channels followed by post-test studies in protective chambers. A reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) with an unauthorized release of CPS rods from the reactor core leads to a pulsed channel power increase. This accident can proceed according to two scenarios: without a critical heat flux (CHF) on the fuel element jacket at the final stage and with a dry heat flux. To date, a series of experiments have been carried out according to the first scenario in the MIR reactor channel and the corresponding data on the behavior of fuel elements have been obtained. An urgent task for today is to prepare and conduct reactor experiments according to the second scenario. The main experimental parameter that determines the behavior and final state of the studied fuel elements is their temperature. No experimental data were found on the critical heat flux for the rod bundles in the low coolant mass flow rate region (experiments in the MIR reactor channel can be conducted in the range of 200–250 kg/(m2s)). The available data are in the extrapolation range. The “steady-state crisis” experiment was conducted to obtain data on the critical heat flux value within the specified coolant mass flow rate range in the MIR reactor channel. The test object was a jacket fuel assembly composed of three shortened VVER-1000 fuel rods with a length of 1230 mm (the fuel part length = 1000 mm) installed in a triangular grid at a pitch of 12.75 mm, which is a cell of the VVER-1000 core. This assembly configuration is used for in-pile tests to study the behavior of fuel elements under emergency conditions. The in-pile testing results are presented. The paper shows the possibility of detecting the start and development of a dry heat flux based on the readings of thermocouples located inside the FE kernel. As a result, the directly measured test parameters were used to determine the critical heat flux value.